Ch.203Epilogue. What I Wish For (3)

When Kagami first suggested going to an amusement park, I honestly thought she might be a bit hasty.

By my standards, we had just recently returned from a trip that took up almost our entire vacation.

Though we lived in an old apartment that was essentially just one room, contrary to its appearance, our lifestyle was quite comfortable, and Kagami used that “comfort” rather nonchalantly.

Well, it’s not like she doesn’t work. Since we attend school in the mornings and afternoons, it wouldn’t be strange if she was managing the shrine during those hours.

Considering when I can see Kagami, the shrine’s operating hours are abnormally short compared to other shrines, but well, if things run smoothly, it’s not my place to interfere.

She probably has enough money saved up that it wouldn’t matter even if things didn’t run smoothly.

So it wasn’t strange that Kagami wanted to do something when we had such a long break, but…

“…”

Looking at her somewhat excited face, she seemed strangely urgent.

I wonder why.

“I have two places in mind.”

Kagami said with a cheerful smile.

One was near Tokyo… though actually in Chiba Prefecture, a famous American film company’s theme park.

And the other was in Osaka, another famous American film company’s theme park.

I haven’t been to either, but…

Come to think of it, it’s been almost 20 years. I heard various stories from a friend who traveled to Japan, but I wonder if most of the attractions I know about are no longer there?

That famous magic school film series started coming out in 2001. As of now, only two films have been released.

Wait, isn’t the third film coming out this year? Is the story different in this world?

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”

Seeing me lost in thought, Kagami tilted her head and asked.

She strangely resembled Koko in that moment. Well, it’s not strange for a mother and daughter to look alike.

Thinking about it now, Koko’s personality must take after Kagami. Perhaps Kagami is just… a bit too worn down by the world? Hmm, I’m not sure.

Anyway.

“No, I don’t mind either way. Where were you thinking of going?”

Even if we go to Chiba, it’s still near Tokyo, and we’ve already been to Osaka last time. I don’t think I’d mind either way.

“We can go to Tokyo anytime if we have a little time, right? So how about going to Osaka again?”

“By car?”

“No.”

Kagami said with a beaming smile.

“How about a train trip this time?”

Ah.

So she wants to try something she hasn’t done before.

Well, even with the same destination, the whole atmosphere of the trip changes depending on how you get there.

“I’m fine with that.”

When I looked toward Koko, Kagami did the same.

“Woo?”

Koko tilted her head. If we were measuring the “degree of confusion” in their expressions, Koko’s was much greater and seemed more innocent, but she definitely resembled Kagami a bit.

“Good!”

It’s like she’ll follow wherever I go, that kind of feeling.

Koko exclaimed that while raising both arms high.

Seeing Koko’s expression, Kagami’s face bloomed with a smile.

It wasn’t the kind of smile I’d seen before. Not a forced smile, but one born from genuine happiness.

Indeed, this atmosphere suited Kagami much better than her suspicious one.

*

The train journey took longer than I expected.

Osaka, Tokyo.

Is it because I’ve heard these two city names so often? When I was young, I vaguely thought the two cities were very close.

It’s a distance that’s far if you consider it far, and close if you consider it close, but from a Korean perspective, I think it would be considered far. It might be different from a Chinese or American perspective, but well, I was born and raised in Korea.

I don’t know the exact distance between the two cities, but even by Shinkansen, it takes about two and a half hours. I believe it takes about that long to go from Seoul to Busan by KTX, so it’s at least that far.

Kagami eating a bento box on the train looked as excited as a child.

Even I, who initially didn’t think much of it, felt strangely uplifted.

A harmonious family, huh.

It’s ironic.

On the outside, we’re a single-parent family living in a worn-out one-room apartment, but in reality, we’re not economically poor at all.

If we were to say that our hearts were poor and only now starting to fill up, that would be a different story.

Spring was in full bloom outside the window.

All those cherry blossoms had fallen, and now only greenery remained. And that alone made the world look very vibrant.

“By the way, since when have you been planning this?”

“Huh?”

When I suddenly asked that while looking out the window, Kagami looked at me with slightly widened eyes.

“There must have been a lot of people traveling.”

I’ve only lived here for a little over a year, so I can’t claim to be fully versed in Japanese culture.

But even from my experience living in Korea, I can infer some things.

During Lunar New Year and Chuseok, all airplane, train, and bus tickets sell out. Bus tickets might still be available to some extent, but train tickets are almost like a war.

Even outside these major holidays, tickets sell out quickly during what’s called “Golden Week.”

Wouldn’t Japan be similar? Doesn’t Golden Week come around every year?

“Yes. I probably would have had trouble if I were alone.”

“I thought so.”

“I’m not very familiar with computers.”

“…”

Oh… is that so.

Well, during this period, some households might not have computers. They’re not yet essential items. Unless there’s someone working in a company, and our household isn’t like that.

In my previous life, I often heard things like “Kids these days don’t know how to use computers.” People tend to get used to what they find more convenient and struggle to adapt to other things. It can feel awkward to use a computer after only using a smartphone, so it would be incredibly awkward for a generation that has never used one to try to learn.

In this era, the proportion of on-site ticket purchases must be huge. Actually, I’ve only ridden a train in Japan during a school trip. I’ve ridden the subway countless times, though.

“I got help.”

While I was lost in my thoughts, Kagami said, lowering her gaze back to her bento box.

“Help?”

“Yes. When I said I wanted to go on a family trip, the shrine’s followers helped me.”

“Oh… I see.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

“…Please thank them for me later.”

After pondering what to say, I finally managed that, and Kagami smiled and said she would.

Shrine followers, huh.

It was a bit funny to imagine yakuza men using the eagle typing method or standing in line to book train tickets.

They must have been extremely serious about it, right?

“Of course. It’s fortunate, though. They said they also needed to book tickets. They got them for us while they were at it.”

I see.

Well, even among yakuza men, some must have families, so they could go on trips with their families during Golden Week.

…But do yakuza observe such holidays and take breaks?

*

I found out what kind of tickets the yakuza men “needed to book” the very next day.

This time, it wasn’t a road trip but a journey with a clearly defined destination, so we arrived in Osaka around noon the previous day and unpacked.

The theme park was scheduled for the next day.

Starting from the morning and departing in the evening would be too tiring, so the plan was to rest well in the evening and depart again the next morning. We had plenty of time since it was Golden Week anyway.

No matter how nice home is, it’s also good to sleep in a soft bed occasionally.

After lunch, we spent time leisurely and rested well. We also visited streets we hadn’t seen before.

Since we planned to play from the next morning, we went to bed early and woke up early.

“Wow…”

That was Koko’s impression upon seeing an amusement park for the first time.

Come to think of it, Koko probably wouldn’t dislike such places.

Her personality, which used to not like people much, had improved a lot while spending time with friends, and above all, the devoted Kagami was right beside her.

And except for the people, the atmosphere that seemed to preserve the world of comics that Koko loves so much… hmm, maybe that’s more similar to the one in Chiba.

Well, anyway, it was her first time visiting such a place.

I felt a bit excited too.

In reality, there were too many people to do everything as freely as I’d thought. But what can you do? To enjoy such places, you need to be able to overcome such things with a positive attitude.

And at the very least, Koko looked very happy. And I’m certain that anyone with Koko can’t help but be happy.

Just hearing her pleasant exclamation of “Wow!” makes you want to raise both arms and shout “Wow!” alongside her.

Kagami didn’t forget to bring the camera she bought last time. I didn’t forget to bring my camcorder either.

We took lots of photos and videos.

“Would you like cotton candy? Cotton candy?”

Koko nodded enthusiastically at Kagami’s words.

I also nodded enthusiastically, following Koko. I felt like I was the same age as Koko.

Ah, am I the same age?

Sadly, Kagami’s plan to definitely make me her daughter was steadily coming to fruition.

At first, it was difficult to call her “mom,” but once I started, it gradually became more natural, and my resistance slowly faded.

Actually, Kagami herself reacts a bit excessively whenever I use the term “mom,” so I’m still conscious of it.

As the three of us followed Kagami, each holding cotton candy in one hand and turning around—

“Ah.”

Kagami and I made the same sound simultaneously.

“Woo?”

Koko tilted her head.

“…”

In front of us was a man with an extremely fierce expression.

A man with tanned skin, wearing a bright-colored suit that seemed a bit too eye-catching for a place like this.

“…Mr. Yamashita?”

“…Kagami.”

Surprisingly, there were cat ears on top of the man’s head.

For reference, the three of us were all different. Kagami had cat ears on her head, Koko had dog ears, and I had rabbit ears.

Kagami remained frozen for a while, unable to say anything.

I could see her face slowly turning red.

Ah, I see.

The statement “they had tickets to book, so they did it for us at the same time” was literal.

I’m not sure if yakuza enjoy Golden Week, but it’s not strange for their children or wives to enjoy it.

And for a father to make time for such a family.

I slightly moved to the side to see behind him.

There was a pair of girls there.

Well, one of them might be too old to be called a girl now…

Are they not married yet?

When my eyes met Yuu’s, she slightly turned her head away.

Ironically, Yuu had dog ear headbands on her head. Next to her, Ms. Mori had rabbit ears.

In that household, is Yuu in Koko’s position?

I think it would suit them better if Mr. Yamashita and Yuu swapped headbands.

Ms. Mori next to her waved lightly at me, so I awkwardly bowed my head.

“Yuu!”

When Koko waved her hand with a bright smile, Yuu could no longer pretend not to see us.

The way she waved her hand slightly towards us was the most unusual appearance of Yuu I had seen so far.

Well…

They’ve reconciled, huh.

That’s good.

*

Kagami’s remarkable point is probably her stubbornness and principles.

That bulldozer-like personality of doing whatever she decides to do might not always be good, but it’s also remarkable in its own way that she never takes off her headband even in such an embarrassing situation.

Probably because Koko has no intention of taking off her headband.

I didn’t take mine off either.

Thanks to this, Mr. Yamashita and Ms. Mori didn’t take theirs off either. Yuu looked like she wanted to take off her dog ear headband and burn it right away, but she kept wearing it, probably thinking that taking it off would only show that she cared about it.

We finally found a place to sit nearby.

Each of us had cotton candy in hand.

Since cotton candy inevitably makes your mouth and hands sticky no matter how you eat it, Koko and I just gave up on appearances and ate it leisurely.

Yuu was contemplating whether she should eat it or not.

“Now I see that we’re able to be here thanks to Mr. Yamashita. Thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing, my subordinates got the tickets, so it wasn’t my doing.”

Mr. Yamashita nodded with a solemn expression. The cat ears on his head swayed unnecessarily softly.

“…”

And then a moment of silence.

The two don’t seem to be that close. Well, he’s just married to Kagami’s sister, and Kagami wasn’t that close to her sister.

Yuu kept glancing in my direction.

“Come to think of it, Kotone is Yuu’s cousin, right?”

Ms. Mori asked in a gentle voice.

I nodded.

How should I put this?

No matter how I look at it, she only appears to be Yuu’s older sister. They’re practically sisters with a considerable age difference, but since Ms. Mori is such a beauty, she looks a bit younger, so I understand why Mr. Yamashita can’t accept her as his wife.

I was envious, but if the age gap is this big, the public’s gaze would be quite scary.

“Do you go to the same school?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Are you close in daily life?”

“From this year, we’ve joined the same club.”

Ms. Mori nodded and looked alternately at me, Koko, and Kagami.

“Since your mother is beautiful, all her daughters are pretty too. Sitting side by side like this, you all look alike.”

“Oh my.”

Kagami widened her eyes at those words and smiled brightly.

It wasn’t a smile of caution or anything, just a beaming expression. But since Kagami is Kagami, her expression didn’t completely break down.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

It was a moment when the slight caution I felt from Kagami instantly dissolved.

Ms. Mori might be someone who understands people’s hearts very well.

Well, judging by her impression, that’s certainly the case.

“When are you two getting married?”

I was amazingly close to spitting out my cotton candy. Kagami’s words were so direct that they almost made me do something physically impossible.

“Oh my.”

But Ms. Mori’s face also melted at Kagami’s words.

…

It seems these two have a strange connection.